Friday, May 23, 2008

But is it the same one Noah used?

I was about 10 years old when my family got our first VCR for Christmas. We didn't own any videos, so we borrowed from our neighbor next door. One summer, she was kind enough to let us have "Raiders of the Lost Ark" on indefinite loan. When we would complain about being bored, mom would suggest that we watch "Raiders" again.

We always did. It never got old. I've probably seen "Raiders" in its entirety more times than any other movie in my life. (Runner up: "Interview with the Vampire," which I've seen in the theater more times than any other movie. We saw it at the dollar theater two or three times a week for six or more weeks. You do the math.) My count on "Raiders" viewing is well over 40. Probably closer to 60.

We saw the new Indiana Jones movie last night and enjoyed it tolerably well. I did miss the Nazis (they were replaced by Russians) and I missed the familiar soaring, heroic theme. You know the one: Ba-ba-da-daaaaaaah, Ba-ba-daaaaaaah, Ba-ba-da-dah, Ba-ba-da-da-da. The theme was used far less than in previous films and the orchestration, when it did play, was fairly muted and much less heroic. Kind of like the way that Sting turned "Every Breath You Take" from a marginally creepy stalker song into a sappy love song.

My favorite part of the Indy 4 experience occurred right at the beginning when a kidnapped Indy and a bunch of Russians enter a government warehouse stacked floor-to-ceiling with wooden crates of various sizes. The Russians demand that Indy help them find the specific crate they are seeking.

I have it in a footlocker with all my other keepsakes. It might be a little crumpled, but there's no way I could get rid of it. In the history of fashion, no one has even been made cooler by a single piece of hatwear.

The hat rocks. I rock. You rock. Anything the hat touches rocks. It's a pity I can't share it with more people and they could rock too.